Page 115 of Best I Never Had

“Sorry,” I say through a smirk and a curved brow that says everything but sorry. “I’ve just missed these lips so much.” My gaze lowers to her full lips, now swollen and smeared with the dark lipstick she so perfectly applied. She shifts over me, sliding in and out, causing me to hum with pleasure into our kiss. “I thought you needed a moment,” I groan when she sinks deeper into me.

“Yeah, but when you talk about my lips like that, I feel like I’ve gained all of my energy back.”

I roll over her, laying her down, and her head lazily hits the mattress. My body hovers above her before I grab both her hands and bring them above her head, pressing them into the mattress as her body stretches under me. I slowly guide myself in and out of her, loving the way she moans when Ido it. It sounds so erotic, like I could get off from the mere sound of her pleasure.

“I can’t believe we spent all this timenotdoing this,” she says, her voice strained as her hands break free from my grip and run along my bicep.

“Tell me about it.” I lower myself against her while giving me enough space to lick her along the upper curve of her breast, loving the way her soft skin feels against my tongue. “We were so fucking stupid.”

She laughs, the muscles that hold me close inside her clenching around me, making my own arms turn into mush while I bury my face into her shoulder. I continue to thrust into her, building up my pace as I watch the laughter wipe off her face, replacing it into a twisted look that skims that fine line between pain and pleasure.

Her breathing picks up, matching mine, while her legs draw up to my sides. She doesn’t say anything. Instead, she lets out what sounds like a mixture of a moan and grunt, signaling the start of another orgasm building inside of her. I can tell by the way her breathing hitches and her mouth forms in a perfect O.

God, she looks sofuckingsexy.

Just as I feel her orgasm clench around me, the sensation making me feel like my spirit has lifted out of my body and sits hovering over me until I somehow recover, I come too. I groan so loud, I have to muffle the sound against her neck, loving the way she still smells like vanilla, even through the sweat that seeps through her pores.

“Reallyfucking stupid,” I say breathlessly into the sheets that surround us. We both smile against each other’s skin, basking in the aftermath of the most heated sex I’ve ever had. That we’vebothever had. Because I don’t even need to ask her to know that it’s never been like this with anyone else. Not with that weasel of an ex-boyfriend of hers or anyone else before that.Only me.

When we finally catch our breaths, we wrap ourselves in the blankets and watch the night sky through the large windows that line Natalia’s bedroom walls. We watch as the light snowfall filters through the cold air outside, admiring it as it coasts through glowing streetlights. I pull her against me, loving the way her curved backside molds against my front, and bury my face into her hair.

My eyes start to feel heavy when I feel Natalia’s body pull away from me. She reaches toward her nightstand, where my gift rests in the small box I wrapped it in. She takes it in her hand, letting the round metal ring loop through her index finger as the large charm rests in her palm. She’s holding it up in front of her when she turns to face me.

“I still can’t believe you kept this all these years.”

My hand rests on her stomach, warm and still slightly damp, as I watch her look at the keychain in awe.

“It’s the best Christmas present I could ever ask for,” she whispers, holding it against her bare chest.

My brows lift with a playful smile, caressing the skin lining her stomach and waist. “Better than a box of lemon tarts?”

She nods eagerly. “Better than a whole tray.”

I chuckle, nuzzling into her neck.

And then she gasps. “I didn’t get you anything!”

I nuzzle deeper, my tongue poking through my lips as it runs along the curve of her neck. And I feel a low hum vibrate through her skin. “I can think of about nineteen ways you can make it up to me.”

“Nineteen?!” she exclaims through a laugh. “We aren’t bunnies, Marshall.”

I bury my face into her neck again, finding that soft spot below her ear completely irresistible as I tremble with laughter. I pinch her side and she squirms, clawing at the sheets to get away from me. I use my strength to pull her toward me, and she yelps before a fit of laughter makes her breathless.

“God, I love how you feel.” I kiss her deeply, and her body becomes limp in my arms. So pliable and receptive as her hand moves between us to grip my already growing erection. I groan a deep, rumbling growl as I feel her smile against my lips.

I arch a brow, bucking into her hand as I grow harder from her purposeful strokes. “Nineteen doesn’t seem that high of a number now, does it?” I whisper.

Natalia’s sweet laugh is the last thing I hear before she climbs back on top of me, pressing her warm, naked body against mine as I fall into a past that I dreamed into reality.

epilogue

Hayden

three years later

“Hayden!The Empire Tribuneis here for the pictures!”

I look up from the bustling kitchen as Natalia scurries back out the doors leading to the now-crowded dining room. I look to my right at Johnny, my new sous chef, before he nods a quick okay to excuse me from the kitchen. When I enter the dining room, everyone turns to face me, cheering and clapping as they extend their warm congratulations. The crowd filled with friends, family, and colleagues is gathered to celebrate the biggest professional milestone I could ever achieve: opening my own restaurant.

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